Revivalist's African Jazz Issue: Highlife Redux
Image courtesy of Killbeatz.
Interview: Killbeatz' Short & Sweet Debut EP, 'Love and Happiness'
We speak to the renowned afrobeats producer about his joint Love and Happiness EP with King Promise & Ofori Amponsah, and his daughter's inspiration behind the project.
Killbeatz needs no introduction. The producer born Joseph Addison is one of the biggest hitmakers as far as afrobeats is concerned. From R2Bees to Sarkodie to FuseODG to M.anifest, Killbeatz has blessed your favorite singers and rappers alike with the soundtracks to their biggest hits. From the azonto era to the global spread of afrobeats, his contribution to African music as a whole cannot be overstated.
However, Killbeatz' influence doesn't stop at just music production. Behind the scenes, he's a complete industry player. The CEO of Ghanaian record label Legacy Life Entertainment, he's responsible for bringing star singer King Promise to the limelight.
Despite producing for the crème de la crème of the Ghanaian music industry as well as several international artists over the length of a decade, the highly-influential producer and instrumentalist never had a project of his own. Now he has set out to change that. In October 2020 Killbeatz dropped his debut EP, titled Love and Happiness.
<p><em>Love and Happiness</em> is a joint project, a collaborative effort between him, singer King Promise, and legendary Highlife singer <strong>Ofori Amponsah</strong>. It's a brief affair, just four tracks long, but it represents the best of two worlds—classic Ghanaian highlife and contemporary afrobeats. <strong>Joey B</strong>, Sarkodie, and <strong>Darkovibes</strong> also make appearances on the project, balancing out the old school vibes with that present-day feel. The entire project was recorded in a single night, but you couldn't tell just from listening to it alone.</p><p>We sat down with Killbeatz to speak about <em>Love and Happiness</em>, the creative process behind it and more. Check out the interview below.</p><p><div class="dfp_atf-slot" data-not-loaded="true"></div><script type="text/javascript">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Killbeatz, King Promise, Ofori Amponsah - Odo Nti (Official Video)</small>
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</p><p><strong>So what inspired this project?</strong><br></p><p>Just as the title depicts, love and happiness inspired the project. I had my first child recently. She has brought me a lot of happiness and she is my love, hence the title <em>Love and Happiness</em>. The project was inspired by her.</p><p><strong>What made you decide to make your first EP a joint project, instead of your own solo project?</strong></p><p>The project actually wasn't planned. King Promise and I had already made "Odo Nti," and we had invited Ofori Amponsah over to work on the song. He came over to the studio, and we made magic in one night. We recorded the whole project that night.</p><p><strong>It must have been gratifying to be able to work with and produce music for a legend like Ofori Amponsah. How did that make you feel?</strong></p><p>I have been a fan of him for quite a long time, and admired him right from when he broke out into the Ghana music scene. I'm actually very happy for the chance to work with him.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Image courtesy of Killbeatz.</small></p><p><strong>What was the creative process of making the EP like?</strong><br></p><p>So we had invited Ofori Amponsah to come do "Odo Nti.". But when he came we happened to work on all the other songs on the EP on that same night. I played him some beats that I had ready, and he liked them and vibed to them. I play the beats and then he goes in to freestyle, and then that's what we have now. Nothing was forced. It was just positive energy around us that night. It was great.</p><p><strong>Tell us about "No More".</strong></p><p>"No More" is a great tune. On that one I sampled Ofori Amponsah's "Dabebi", which is a classic highlife tune. It came out perfectly.</p><p><strong>What's your favorite song on the EP?</strong></p><p>Actually, my favorites keep changing. I love the whole project. I'll say all the songs on the EP are my favorites.</p><p><strong>What should we expect next from Killbeatz?</strong></p><p>I actually have a lot of things in the works. I'm planning on dropping an album, and also working with more international artists. There's a lot of dope stuff in the pipeline, so stay tuned!</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" frameborder="0" height="450" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/love-and-happiness-ep/1529160816" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;background:transparent;"></iframe></div><p><br></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="380" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/6N57ZmzDyRSMqfEbfDM7ng" width="300"></iframe></div>
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